


Black & Grey

by xRabbitx



Category: Bleach
Genre: Fluff, Humor, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-29
Updated: 2012-10-29
Packaged: 2017-11-17 07:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/548976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xRabbitx/pseuds/xRabbitx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>How could he have forgotten this fateful day so easily? What if he had simply carried on like nothing had happened? Yumichika felt slightly sick just thinking about it, and after making sure that Ikkaku was still asleep by his side, he rolled out of bed and fled to the bathroom.</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black & Grey

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to move all my old fic from Livejournal to here. Some of this stuff is very old, so yeah...

~

When Yumichika awoke that morning, he knew that it was his day off, but he couldn't remember why. Then, as if hit over the head with a sledge hammer, it dawned on him, and his mouth went dry while a cold feeling of dread spread in his belly. How could he have forgotten this fateful day so easily? What if he had simply carried on like nothing had happened? Yumichika felt slightly sick just thinking about it, and after making sure that Ikkaku was still asleep by his side, he rolled out of bed and fled to the bathroom. Behind him, he could hear Ikkaku mumble something in his sleep, but Yumichika didn't stop, and hurried to slide the door to the bathroom closed.

Closing his eyes, Yumichika took a deep breath through his nose and tried to make his heart stop racing. This was the moment of truth, and he wasn't sure he could handle the truth just yet. There was nothing to do, however, and he slowly opened his eyes while at the same time turning towards the large mirror standing leaned against the wall. The reflection that met his eyes looked by the first impression not any different than the one he had seen before going to bed the previous evening, but Yumichika wasn't satisfied yet. 

Narrowing his eyes, he leaned closer, so close that the tip of his nose was practically touching the polished glass, and inspected the face that was staring back at him: the skin was pale and smooth, looking perfectly soft and moisturised like it should, and both eyebrows were shaped in a perfect arch over each deep violet eye.

After staring at his own reflection for almost fifteen minutes, Yumichika was satisfied that his face, at least, hadn't taken any damage from time-- yet-- and he straightened up with a soft sigh of relief. If only this last thing would be in order, he could go back to normal and celebrate his birthday with Ikkaku. It was going to take awhile, but he was determined to make sure that everything was like it should be, and he grabbed the comb from the shelf and began carding it through his thick, black hair in search of greys. A quick look told him that there weren't any on the surface since his hair was so dark that any greys would have lit up like stars on the night sky, but he wanted to be absolutely sure.

He had worked his way through the entire right side of his head and half of the left when he found it: one single bright white hair just by his left temple. It was like someone had kicked him the face, and for a long while, Yumichika was unable to do anything but stare shocked at the strand between his fingers. His first reaction was to yank out the hair, but something held him back. If this was truly the way he was going, why try to hide it? Why try to deny the ugliness attempting to creep out through his skin? Perhaps he should try to age gracefully instead of desperately clinging to what once was? The thought of ageing made Yumichika shudder, then jump when someone suddenly knocked on the door to the bathroom.

“Oi? What the hell are ya doin' in there?” Ikkaku called through the door. “You've been in there fer ages, and I gotta take a piss.”

“Er, just a minute,” Yumichika replied, watching his own face go paler and paler in the mirror. “I'm right in the middle of something.”

It was no use. Ikkaku already knew, and even if he was going to yank out the hair, Yumichika thought, he should at least come clean to his lover. Lovers shouldn't keep secrets from each other-- okay, there was that one secret about his zanpaktou, but that was different-- and even though he hated the thought, Yumichika only thought it fair to let Ikkaku decide if he wanted to be with someone who was going grey.

“Hey? Yumi? Whatcha doin' in there?”

Feeling like the walls were closing in on him, Yumichika finally opened the door and looked up at Ikkaku with such a grim expression on his face that the latter took a step backwards.

“Jeez, ya look like someone just died,” Ikkaku said, grinning nervously. “Someone didn't just die, though, right?”

“No, but they might as well,” Yumichika mumbled quietly, looking down at the floor and trying to gather the courage it was going to take for him to tell Ikkaku the truth.

“What? What's goin' on, Yumi?”

“There is no easy way to tell you this,” Yumichika said, raising his gaze to Ikkaku's confused face, “and I won't get angry if you choose to leave because of this.”

Ikkaku's expression changed from confused to worried, and he stepped closer and put a hand on Yumichika's shoulder. “What the hell're ya talkin' about?”

After opening his mouth and realising that he had somehow lost his voice, Yumichika sighed and lifted his hand to tug out the grey hair, then hand it to Ikkaku whose expression changed again; this time to completely perplexed. 

“What's this?” he asked, blinking at the hair on his palm. “A hair?”

“It's mine,” Yumichika admitted quietly. “I found it just now. I'm sorry.”

“Er--” Ikkaku looked utterly lost now as he looked back at Yumichika, “so yer apologisin' for finding a hair in the bathroom? Uhh, yer bein' pretty weird right now, Yumichika.”

Even in his state of being completely miserable, Yumichika didn't have the patience for this, and he huffed and snatched the hair back from Ikkaku. 

“I said, it's mine,” he explained. “It's a grey hair, Ikkaku. It means I'm getting old. It will only be a matter of time before I start getting--” he grimaced as if the words tasted sour in his mouth, “wrinkled, floppy and-- _ugly_.”

Ikkaku stared blankly at him for a moment, then snorted, shook his head and reached out to draw Yumichika close. 

“Idiot,” he mumbled, taking the hair from Yumichika's hand and throwing it over his shoulder. “Yer a prize fuckin' idiot.”

“So, you are not going to leave me?” Yumichika asked, still a little too shocked to really react to what was happening. “But I thought--”

“Well, ya thought wrong, didn't ya?” Ikkaku interrupted, tugging Yumichika even closer so he could press a kiss against Yumichika's forehead. “I mean, look at me, fer fuck's sake. Do I look like someone who cares 'bout hair?”

Ikkaku had a point there, Yumichika thought, and he shook his head quietly while Ikkaku continued, “But I gotta admit I'm kinda offended that you'd think I'd actually leave ya fer something that silly.”

Blushing a little, Yumichika again had to agree with Ikkaku, and his cheeks grew even warmer when he realised how stupid he had been. He would never leave Ikkaku for anything, and since he was the most superficial person in Soul Society, he had been a fool to think like he had. 

“I apologise,” Yumichika muttered. “I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry,”

“Ya damn well better be,” Ikkaku said, cupping Yumichika's cheek to tilt his head backwards and kiss Yumichika's lips. “If ya hadn't been my friend and lover, I'd have challenged ya to a duel to make up for this, but since I ain't gonna do that, I'm gonna make sure you make it up to me in another way instead.”

This brought a slight smile to Yumichika's lips, and he curled his arms around his lover's waist and looked up at him. “Is that so?”

“Mhm, you betcha,” Ikkaku hummed. “So ya better get yer pretty butt to bed right away.”

As Yumichika pulled away from Ikkaku and headed back to bed, he couldn't help but smile to himself. Growing old, horrifying as it was, didn't feel quite as bad when he knew that he was going to grow old with Ikkaku.

~

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own none of this.


End file.
